Unforgettable Mission
by Rain of the Stars
Summary: A seemingly simple ANBU mission quickly turns out to be much more dangerous than anybody had thought possible: both for the lives and hearts of twelve young ninjas. Itasakusasu and Naruhina.
1. Chapter 1

_Ever-so Complicated Mission_

**Okay so this is my first Naruto fanfiction. Please feel free to tell me anything good or bad about my story: especially whether the characters are becoming too OOC. I don't know whether I'll continue this or not. It depends on the feedback I get, how motivated I feel, and how quickly I finish my Avatar: the Last Airbender fanfiction (which will be my priority until it's complete no matter what I choose). **

**I own absolutely nothing with the exception of the plot (though I wish I could have Itachi). **

Chapter One: Uchiha Itachi

In the darkness, three teams of ANBU jumped swiftly from tree to tree. The secondary teams were each a mile apart from the center team: just enough space to keep them in an easy distance from one another. Itachi's team was the center team, the leading group.

As Itachi closed his eyes briefly, he remembered when Tsunade had called the twelve ninjas. The mission was to protect a town that was in an alliance of sorts with Konoha. This town was being terrorized by the Akatsuki. Reports of murders were constantly flowing into Tsunade's office. There was also a shady group that teams of jounin had been monitoring. It was high time that they interrogated them and, if necessary, kill them.

The town was apparently rather large. It was much larger than an average town, but nobody was sure of what to call it so they continued to call it a town. The teams would split upon reaching the town and the captains would meet every Monday to discuss what their team had discovered and what the next step would be. If anything important came up they would call a meeting and the captains would bring one other member from their team so that there would be no hot-headed, rash decisions made.

Uchiha Itachi, Nara Shikamaru, and Hyuuga Neji were to each lead a team. Itachi remembered the scowl on Neji's face upon being told that Naruto was on his team. Naruto, despite having entered the ANBU ranks, was still considered quite juvenile. This was a trait that Neji detested and had no interest in dealing with. Neji's scowl disappeared when Tenten was announced to be on his team. She had been on his team when they had been genin and while neither had approached each other, they obviously were attracted to one another. Kiba was the last member to be added on to Neji's team. Neji was indifferent to Kiba. After all, Kiba was often visiting Hinata since they had been on the same team as genin.

Itachi then remembered Shikamaru's team being called. _Poor Captain Nara_ Itachi thought to himself humorously. Shikamaru had groaned something that sounded like, "how troublesome". Ino had been on the same team as Shikamaru when they were genin so he knew how to handle her. However, Itachi guessed that the thought of having to deal with Ino's attempts at wooing Sasuke and Sai were going to drive him crazy. Not to mention, Sasuke still didn't really like Sai despite the fact that they had been on the same team for quite a while.

When Itachi had been told of his team, he had simply nodded. He was used to not showing emotion and felt no need to show anything, but acceptance. Shisui, his cousin and best friend, was to be on his team. Itachi was pleased with that since the two were great at fighting together. Hinata was nothing spectacular, but at least she had remarkable speed and being a Hyuuga she had those eyes. Sakura was one of the best medical ninjas ever seen and had remarkable chakra control. Not to mention, Itachi had seen her frequently since she was always coming over to have tea with her former teammate, Itachi's brother Sasuke.

As Tsunade called an end to the meeting, she dismissed the teams one by one. Itachi and his new team had tightened his muscles in preparation to jump out of the window after all the other teams. However, Tsunade then told Itachi and his team that they were to conduct a few side missions to find out more about the Akatsuki. By more, she meant she wanted Itachi's team to go beyond simply figuring out why the Akatsuki were attacking this town relentlessly.

Tsunade ordered them not to tell anyone of their side missions and that Hinata was to stay behind to cover up for their disappearances. Apparently, she had become a talented liar. Itachi was glad to hear that the Hyuuga on his team had some talents outside of her eyes and speedy fighting. She was sure to come up with reasonable enough lies. Tsunade then told them that Hinata was the only one who was to stay behind. Sakura would be needed to take care of any immediate medical emergencies on these missions and Itachi and Shisui were to take the brunt of any fighting that occurred. Sakura had protested that she could fight and Tsunade had told her that she was supposed to help her teammates fight, but not supposed to get injured. After all, someone had to make sure that they didn't come back with too many injuries or else their side missions would be found out. Sakura had held back on saying anymore after that.

"Weasel," Sakura's voice interrupted Itachi's train of thought. It was some kind of joke that Itachi's name meant weasel and his mask was that of a weasel. Itachi had argued that it'd be too obvious who he was and the Hokage at the time had simply replied that Itachi's skills would make his opponents fearful of him. Sakura was directly to his right and, like him, deftly jumping from limb to limb. "We will be overly exhausted and incapable of doing much tomorrow if we continue much longer."

Itachi glanced at the pink-haired ninja, "Tell Wasp to give the camping signal." In a moment, all twelve ninjas were entering a small clearing and taking off their masks.

"Thanks Haruno," Shisui grabbed Sakura's waist and pulled her to him. "I thought Itachi was going to kill us all."

Sakura rolled her eyes and pushed Shisui away roughly, "Keep your hands to yourself Uchiha."

"Oh come on Haruno, you know you can relax now," Shisui laughed. Sakura gave Itachi's cousin a little smile and shook her head in exasperation.

Within half an hour, Hinata had cooked a simple dinner and all the ninjas were chatting around a small fire.

"Why couldn't the old lady have put Sasuke, Sakura, Sai, and I on a team together. I'd even let Sasuke lead. We fight so well together. We've always been a team," Naruto complained.

"Don't insult Tsunade, Naruto," Sakura growled. "She knows what she's doing. The teams are very balanced. Plus, the four of us would make a young team since we're only eighteen."

"Still Sakura," Sasuke spoke up. "We're good enough to be on a team on our own."

"Foolish brother," Itachi turned his head to look at Sasuke. "Too many mistakes would be made. None of you had enough experience as ANBU."

"How are Shikamaru and Neji leading teams then?" Sasuke demanded.

"They've been in the ANBU for four years and are talented enough to be secondary leaders. Plus, many of the older, more experience ninja are out on other missions right now or have just returned from longer missions and need to recuperate. Not to mention, this isn't a large-scale mission. Jounin would take care of it if it wasn't the Akatsuki who was attacking the town."

Sasuke scowled at Itachi, but didn't say anything else. Suddenly, Itachi's head shot upwards, his ace tilted towards the treetops. "Douse the fire and put on your masks," he ordered. "We have visitors."

Everyone looked around with sharp eyes. Itachi then gave another order. "Pair up- there's not enough room to fight well as a four-person team."

Itachi made a quick look around the clearing. He himself had paired with Shisui. Upon seeing the other pairs Itachi was satisfied.

Suddenly, a shuriken whirled towards Itachi's head. As always, his Sharingan seemed to slow time down. Itachi heard Sakura call out, "weasel," in a calm yet warning tone. It was unnecessary to worry over Itachi and Sakura knew that. Calmly and smoothly, Itachi blocked the shuriken with a smooth draw of his katana. Itachi smiled behind his mask: the attack had begun, but it was weak based on the relatively slow speed of the shuriken and the barely concealed chakra signatures.

Itachi was right and all the attackers had been killed within fifteen minutes. Itachi scowled. He had wanted to keep at least one or two alive, but he guessed everyone was exhausted and didn't want to deal with an interrogation.

Sakura and Ino were now checking for wounds, but of course nobody had gotten more than a few scratches. In fact, Ino hadn't seen a point in looking at the wounds, but when Sakura had announced that she would examine them, Ino had hesitantly offered to help.

Within another fifteen minutes, everyone had taken off their masks and was joking around the relit fire. As much as Itachi wished that they could relax, he knew they had to discuss the attack.

Sakura, however, reached the matter before him. "That attack was weak," She spoke while closing the journal she had been writing in. She looked at Itachi who signaled with his hand for her to continue. "I don't think they were there to attack us. I believe that the original intent was to spy on us so that they could later send in teams to kills us. From the determination in their eyes upon attacking us, it is obvious that someone wants us dead. So, obviously, someone knew we were coming probably sent those spies in to double check the numbers and assess how strong each of us seemed. Lucky for us that Captain Uchiha noticed that we were being watched."

Itachi watched Sakura as she spoke. She didn't seem nervous about bringing up any of her ideas. She spoke in a matter-of-fact manner and spoke slowly to let her words sink in. After she spoke, Itachi spent a fraction of a second contemplating before deciding that he didn't have that much to add. The kunoichi was smart and very quick and analyzing situations.

Nevertheless, Itachi figured that he should at least say something to show he agreed with Sakura. "Haruno's theories are probably correct. The positive side of this is that they probably still don't have our numbers since I think we killed them all. The negative part of this is…"

"They know that we have the strength of at least ANBU," Sasuke interrupted.

"I know our mother taught you manners Sasuke," Itachi spoke drily. "You should not interrupt anyone while they are speaking."

From the corner of his eye, Itachi could see Sakura and Naruto sharing a glance before trying to suppress a laugh. Sasuke scowled when he heard their mirth.

"It is still rude, but we will discuss your manners some other time. There is a mission at hand." With that Itachi ended his conversation with his brother.

"How long do you think we have until they send in ANBU- level spies or assassins after us?" Shikamaru asked.

"It can't be too long," Neji mused.

"They might come by tomorrow afternoon; though that'd be the latest time I think that they'd come to be honest. For all we know, we will be attacked within an hour. If they really want us dead, which it seems they do, we can be assured of a stronger, ANBU-level back up team." Shisui had abandoned his humorous manner to tackle all possibilities. It was one of the reasons Itachi was always grateful to be on the same team as his cousin. Despite all the things that Shisui was, he was not stupid and knew how to act serious.

"I agree with Shisui." Itachi spoke as he looked at his comrades. "We should double the guard. Each team will have two members watching at a time. We'll change guard in four hours."

"Hai," everyone dispersed into their teams.

"I can take guard first," Sakura offered.

"Sakura-chan, I think you should rest. You did do some healing and I think I have more energy than you," Hinata quietly spoke.

"I'll take the first watch with you," Shisui stood up."My baby cousin needs to sleep."

Itachi narrowed his eyes at Shisui. "Sasuke is the baby cousin."

"No, he's just a little runt."

"Hn," Itachi didn't say anything else. The famous Uchiha response was enough. He moved on to lay out his sleeping bag. Sakura hesitated before doing the same. "Don't worry, Haruno. They'll be fine on the first watch."

As always, Itachi had difficulties falling asleep. Normally during missions he was able to force himself to get at least an hour or two of sleep, but this time he just couldn't. Finally, he gave up and looked around the camp. Shikamaru and Ino were sleeping next to each other. Ino's platinum blond hair was in Shikamaru's hand and the two were facing each other. However, Itachi doubted that they had fallen asleep like that. Naruto and Neji had their backs to each other. Even sleeping, there was an apparent disdain for one another.

Itachi sat up and let his long black hair out of its tie. Quietly, Itachi reached for his bag. He needed to bathe. It would relax his muscles and maybe allow him to sleep for even half an hour.

"Captain," Sakura whispered. Itachi turned around to face the kunoichi. "Where are you going?"

"I couldn't sleep so I was going to go bathe."

"Captain…"

"I'm going to signal to Shisui. He's used to me doing this. You shouldn't worry Haruno. You know I'll be fine."

"Nevertheless Captain," Sakura angrily lashed out. "There could be an attack at any moment. We need to all be here. Damn it Uchiha, why didn't we question those ninjas?"

"Haruno, I'm sure everything will be fine." Itachi was getting irritated. He wanted to get to that bath. Preferably sooner since Itachi was hoping to catch some sleep. "This may be a young set of ANBU teams, but everyone here is talented."

"Please, Captain, stay here. I don't want to worry about you along with my other worries," Sakura pleaded. This caught Itachi's interest.

"What else are you worried about?" Itachi implored and after the kunoichi didn't answer he gently spoke a single word, "Sakura?"

Sakura's head shot up to face Itachi when he spoke her name. He had never done that before so it was obvious that she'd be shocked. After staring at him for a long time she slowly answered. "They're nothing, but silly fears. There's no reason for you to be concerned."

Itachi decided to let it go for now. He had a feeling that one day she'd come to him on her own and tell him. While he was worried, he knew from Sasuke that Sakura had learned to keep her thoughts hidden. She rarely betrayed what was going through her mind anymore unless the feeling was strong. Of course, she was no where near as brilliant as an Uchiha at doing it since Itachi could always figure out how she was feeling after looking at her face for a moment. Right now, she was confused. Itachi had a feeling that Sasuke was at least a part of the reason for this.

However, all Itachi did was apologize and watch as Sakura wordlessly lay back down and went to sleep. Itachi stood there watching her petite body rise and fall. Itachi was used to seeing Sakura sleep. There were many times when she and Naruto would visit Sasuke and simply fall asleep on the floor of Sasuke's room. They didn't know it, but it had always been Itachi who would put the three of them to sleep on the spare mats that had made their way to Sasuke's room.

"Itachi," Sasuke had come down from the three he was in and was not in front of Itachi. "Don't tell me that you've also fallen for Sakura. There are already so many men in Konoha are enamored with her."

Itachi allowed himself to quietly laugh. "Do not fear, little brother, I have not fallen in love with your cherry blossom."

"She's not my cherry blossom," Sasuke mumbled.

"You wish that she was though," Itachi smirked. "Almost as soon as she stopped showing interest in you, you realized that you'd fallen for her. You often murmur her name in your sleep."

"Is this true, Sasuke?" Sakura had not been asleep after all. Sasuke was obviously mentally kicking himself and wondering why he'd forgotten about Sakura's acting talents.

"You… you weren't asleep?" Sasuke stared at the pink-haired kunoichi in disbelief.

Sakura looked at Sasuke for a long time. She wasn't hiding anything this time. Itachi watched as the kunoichi leaned towards Sasuke. Her vibrant emerald eyes were glowing with passion and her lips were parted slightly. In one quick movement, Sasuke captured Sakura's lips. When Sasuke realized what he had done, he hesitantly began to pull away.

Itachi was thoroughly amused by his younger brother's actions. Sasuke had acted on impulse (something that Uchihas had been told not to do) and was now staring at Sakura without trying to conceal his emotions (Itachi was beginning to wonder if Sasuke had erased all the things that the Uchihas had drilled into his brain).

Sakura had been even more interesting to watch than Sasuke. Her eyes had widened slightly at the feel of Itachi's lips. Itachi could have laughed at the joy and disbelief on her face. What had surprised Itachi though was the unexpected fear that flashed through Sakura's eyes a moment after the disbelief had faded away. Itachi could not remember Sakura looking afraid in a long time. If he remembered correctly, she hadn't been afraid since her parents had died when she was fourteen.

With his teammate's fear, Itachi felt a sudden urge to separate Sakura from Sasuke and hold her in his arms to keep her safe so she wouldn't be afraid. That was the moment when Itachi realized that he actually had fallen for "Sasuke's" cherry blossom. Of course, being an Uchiha, Itachi would be patient and let Sasuke and Sakura's newly-found romance deteriorate before he swooped in to take his cherry blossom into his claws where she'd be safe.

As Itachi watched Sasuke and Sakura confirm their relationship with a few words and another sweet kiss, he vowed that Sakura would be his cherry blossom. Itachi was prepared to wait for Sakura as long as was necessary, but he was already calculating that by the end of the mission, Sakura would have begun to fall for him.


	2. Chapter 2

**I didn't expect to take this long to upload the second chapter. I'm just so freaking busy and no longer have a life even if it's summer. Sorry to those waiting for it. By the way, thanks for the reviews! Even three reviews is a lot for one chapter for me. **

**I don't really like this chapter that much, but I hope that for those reading this story, it was worth the wait.**

**Disclaimer: I own nothing except the plot line and Yuki.**

Chapter Two: Haruno Sakura

"It's our turn to take the watch," Itachi's voice came from right next to her ear. Sakura quickly sat up. She was surprised that he would wake her up that way.

"Hai," she mumbled. Quickly, she rubbed the sleep out of her eyes and smiled at Ino.

"Hey forehead," Ino greeted Sakura sleepily.

"Hey Ino-pig," Sakura teased in reply.

"How troublesome," Shikamaru threw a pointed glare at them. Sakura turned to Ino with a raised eyebrow.

"Oh, he and I aren't on good terms. We woke up in a position he was unhappy with," Ino snorted. Of course Ino wasn't daunted. Sakura had seen them sleeping with Shikamaru's hand in Ino's hair and the two of them facing each other.

"Hey there Ugly and Gorgeous," Sai greeted them with a fake smile as he jumped smoothly out of a tree. Sakura growled and she felt herself tensing while sending chakra to her fist.

"Haruno," Itachi's voice made her give Sai a pointed glare and turn to her captain. "Please refrain from hurting any of your teammates."

Sakura rolled her eyes, "Hai Captain Uchiha."

"Sakura," Sasuke voice sounded as he wrapped his arms around her.

Sakura turned to face him. "Sasuke," she murmured.

"Since when did you two become a couple?" Ino shrieked in shock.

"Yamanaka, shut up," Shikamaru growled in an irritated voice.

"It's recent," Sasuke shrugged.

"Sakura, why didn't you tell me?" Ino glared.

"It happened as of a few hours ago," Sakura blushed as she spoke. She was still shocked that she was in a relationship with Sasuke. She had never expected it to happen.

"Details later," Ino ordered and jumped into the tree that Sai and Sasuke had been in before.

"Go to sleep Sasuke, you'll need it," Sakura gently separated herself from him. Sasuke nodded in reply and walked away. Despite being a little sweeter, he was still pretty abrupt.

"Haruno, it's our watch. Let's get situated," Itachi ordered.

Sakura nodded and as she turned to face Itachi she was a little surprised to see a hint of amusement in his eyes.

"Is there something funny, Captain?"

Itachi smirked briefly and then jumped into the tree that Shisui and Hinata had abandoned. As Sakura passed Hinata, they smiled at each other. Their quiet friendship had no need for words. Simple looks were all it took for them to communicate and that was how they liked it.

Sakura situated herself on a branch about three quarters of the way up the tree where it was as high as she could go and sit without having to worry about the branch breaking under her weight. Itachi had chosen a branch close to hers, but a little lower.

"You and Sasuke have a strange relationship," Itachi quietly told her.

"You've never been in a relationship, Captain. You have no right to say whether ours is strange or not," Sakura sharply replied.

She heard Itachi quietly laugh. "Living in the same area as Shisui has taught me. He is always flitting from one relationship to the next. He's had a few serious ones before Yuki." Itachi paused before saying, "I think he'll ask her to marry him. That's how I know about relationships."

"Yuki's the kunoichi with the silver hair and blue eyes right?"

"Yes, I think you're thinking of the right one."

Sakura sat back in her tree. She had treated Yuki a few months ago. She hadn't been too badly injured, but enough to take her out of training for a few days. Yuki was a beauty though she didn't flaunt it. The kunoichi could be quite serious, but she remembered that she laughed easily. Sakura had just yelled at Naruto for something stupid he'd done and Yuki's laugh had rung out like bells. Not to mention, when they had talked, she remembered Yuki saying that she loved winter time. She had certainly been named correctly. **(A/N: Yuki means snow in Japanese)** Sakura could see how Shisui had fallen in love with her. She seemed to fit all of his requirements: beautiful, serious enough to handle him, she had a sense of humor that would keep him feeling appreciated, and was kind.

"Haruno, why did you fall in love with my otouto?" Itachi's voice knocked her out of her reverie.

"At first it was because he was so handsome and mysterious and determined to be the best though he never said it outright." Sakura smiled remembering why she had originally fallen in love with him. He had been someone that seemed out of reach to her and she wanted to reach him and get through to him.

"You said that this was all at first. What other reasons did you find?"

"When we were on Team Seven, I realized that he was more than determined. He was passionate and he was always there to protect us. He refused to be outdone and seeing him struggle at times, I realized that he wasn't some idol. He was an actual human. Once we became chuunin, I outgrew the fan girl phase. We became closer and he started opening up to me. He was my best friend. It was another reason I fell for him." Sakura sighed at the memories.

"Hn," was all Itachi said in reply. Sakura rolled her eyes. All Uchihas had the same characteristics and vocabulary to an extent. She was used to receiving that reply from Sasuke.

"Itachi, why is it that you haven't gone out with anyone before?" Sakura asked. Now it was his turn to answer a question.

"I was focused. My father demanded that I dedicated myself to training and I became the youngest ANBU captain at the age of thirteen. Plus, the only women who seemed to be around me were either family members or fan girls. Any woman on a mission with me, I kept at a strict distance. I don't approve of romance on a mission."

"But you're in the village for a month at a time sometimes. Why not give it a shot?" Sakura asked. He didn't really think that he could stay single forever, did he? Well, he could, but unless he was asexual then he would obviously fall for someone. He didn't seem the type to go for one-night stands and Sakura knew all about male hormones from her medical training.

"I know what I want." That was all that Itachi said to her.

"Don't we all?" Sakura retorted. "You've hardly made a good excuse."

"Everyone thinks they know what they want. There's a difference. I'm absolutely certain of what I want."

"And what exactly is it that you want?"

Itachi gave a small chuckle causing Sakura to frown. What was so funny? "Perhaps you will figure out in due time Haruno. For now, it will be my own secret."

Sakura didn't say anything in reply. She was pissed off. Itachi always just kept to himself. Taking a watch was terribly boring unless secrets were exchanged or a conversation was interesting. The conversation was interesting, but at this point it required a secret to be given away. A secret that Itachi wasn't about to give away.

"What's on your mind, Haruno?" Itachi's voice broke through the silence that had settled between them for the past fifteen minutes.

"Nothing of importance," Sakura sighed. Two could play at Itachi's game. If he didn't tell her anything then she wouldn't tell him anything.

Suddenly Itachi was standing right in front of her, holding onto a branch a little higher. He looked hot. _Don't think that Sakura! Don't think that! You're with Sasuke and you're not Itachi's type anyways._

"What's on your mind, Sakura?" Itachi leaned towards her slightly. _Damn you_.

"We're supposed to be keeping watch Itachi. I can't see much with you standing in my line of sight." Sakura glared pointedly at him.

"You can't see much in the dark anyways. We're relying on other instincts, remember?" Itachi was definitely smirking. She had heard that tone of voice from Sasuke many times and seeing as Itachi and Sasuke were so similar, she could predict her captain's movements to an extent.

"Whatever, I still don't want you standing right in front of me if it can be helped." Sakura snarled her reply. Couldn't the guy get a hint?

"Well, I'm rather comfortable," Itachi drawled. "Besides, I want you to answer me, Sakura. What are you thinking up in that pretty head of yours?"

"Why do you care so much?" Sakura asked. She refused to give in. Yes, he looked hot and it was bugging her. _No, it shouldn't matter. It shouldn't matter. Oh wait, it does. Everything about him reminds you of Sasuke. That's why you're going crazy. _

"We have another three hours on watch Sakura. I'll know by the end of the watch. Besides, what else can I do to preoccupy myself? You've presented me with a challenge. How can I let that simply slide by?" Itachi smirked.

"Well it looks like we're going to send the next three hours in silence," Sakura told him before shifting slightly to look at the view of the woods. The woods would always be kind. They never made her feel as though she should pull her hair out because she was flustered. The woods were never hot (at least in the sense of appearances).

Sakura could feel Itachi's eyes on her. It stayed that way for another hour. She stared out at the woods thinking about Sasuke, then thinking about Itachi, then Sasuke, then Itachi, and so on. All the while, Itachi had his eyes on her. Finally Sakura gave a low growl, "Don't you know it's rude to stare?"

"Don't you know it's rude not to answer your captain with an affirmative answer?" Itachi retorted. Sakura bristled. So he was still trying to figure out what she was thinking about. It wasn't anything important, but she was still pissed at him for keeping secrets and ruining the mood. She was determined to keep the current mood as it was, certain that their time on watch would get worse if she gave in and told Itachi. He'd laugh and she'd growl and probably try to whack him in the head with a fistful of chakra which would be very bad since then she'd have to heal him and she'd probably get in trouble with Itachi and when she returned to Konoha.

When she didn't answer, she heard Itachi sigh. "Sakura, what did I do? I know it has something to do with me."

Sakura rolled her eyes. He couldn't seriously expect her to tell him could he? Sure, he had the right idea, but it didn't mean she'd reward him with an answer.

"Sakura…"

Sakura suddenly jolted. She realized that he had called her by her first name. Not only that, but she had gotten comfortable with it. That meant that he had to have been saying her name multiple times. "What did you say?" She asked slowly.

"I asked you what I did wrong and…"

"No, what did you say after that?"

"It has something to do with…"

"No, what did you say after that?"

"Haruno Sakura…" Itachi's voice trailed off warningly. He was obviously telling her to just tell him what he wanted to know since she had obviously heard him correctly.

Sakura shook herself and then glared at Itachi. "I'm still not telling you."

She heard Itachi give a low growl. "I'm attempting to make sure that all my teammates are in good shape. That includes mentally and emotionally. Something's bothering you…"

"You're right. Something is bothering me. Do you know what it is? It's just a little something called Uchiha Itachi."

"Haruno, you should know your limits," Itachi warned her.

"I already know them Captain. I'm just pushing them a bit. Shisui does it all the time." Sakura leaned back and looked at Itachi. She could now see him a little clearer with the rising sun. He looked calm, but his eyes betrayed him. They had darkened the same way Sasuke's did when he was pissed off. Oh yes, Itachi was definitely pissed.

"And he always gets what he deserves, if not during the mission, then when we return to Konoha. I have the full right to punish my subordinates…"

"Oh so we're your subordinates?" Sakura angrily lashed out at him. Who did he think he was? Yes, he was the captain, but they weren't his subordinates. They were partners. He was just the one calling all the shots and keeping order amongst their team. If everyone on the team disagreed with Itachi, then their decision would be the one that they used. He wasn't that high above them.

After another fifteen minutes went by with them intensely staring at each other in anger, Sakura spoke. "Look, Uchiha, apologize for your words and we can forget this."

"I offer you my deepest apologies, Haruno Sakura. I should not have used such a word to describe you and my other teammates. Now, it's your turn to apologize for not calling me by "captain" while on a mission. You're not Shisui. You have not known me long enough to have the right to call me anything other than captain while on a mission."

"I'm sorry, Captain," Sakura sighed. Now that this was over, maybe they could have a decent conversation. "So, why do you and Sasuke always bicker?"

Itachi looked at her in surprise. "Now we're moving on to idle chat?" He asked while raising an eyebrow.

"It's better to just forget everything that happened earlier. It won't do any good for anyone if we're glaring at each other constantly."

"Hai," Itachi nodded his head as he stood and looked off in the distance. Sakura was about to repeat her question when Itachi spoke. "Sasuke used to adore me." Her eyes widened. Sasuke didn't seem like the type to simply adore someone. "He loved me and wanted to be like me, but I didn't want that for him. If he were to become like me, then he would become…" Itachi paused. He didn't seem to know what to say. "He would lose himself. Unfortunately, when I started to distance myself from him so that this wouldn't happen, he felt hurt. I suppose betrayed would actually be a more accurate statement. He started to find ways that he was better than me. Instead of loving me, he simply went off on another path and began to try to be a worthy rival of me. Fortunately, Naruto came along and he stopped trying to be better than me and instead tried to best Naruto. Sasuke would never be able to catch up to me, though I wish he could. Naruto is someone he will always be striving to be better than. As soon as he feels comfortable that he's better than him, Naruto surprises him and momentarily surpasses him."

Sakura took in Itachi's words. So Itachi was cool around Sasuke to prevent him from trying to become like Itachi. He didn't want Sasuke to lose himself. His words made sense. Itachi had to protect Sasuke by hurting him. It was twisted, but it worked. Sakura looked up at Itachi. His eyes were still locked on a distant point and there was a slight glint of sadness in his eyes.

"You really love Sasuke," she gently told him. Itachi slowly turned until he was facing her. He nodded in an almost absentminded manner. "Don't you think there could have been another way?"

"Was there another way to stop him from trying to be like me? I thought about it for a long time, but that was the best solution I came up with. There were too many other ways for the less painful ways to go wrong." Itachi turned back to that distant point. The sun was beginning to rise. "I think our shift is ending. We should help with breakfast, pack, and leave."

"Yes, but wait," Sakura grabbed Itachi's hand right before he was about to descend from the tree. "Itachi-san, if you were worried that Sasuke would lose himself because he'd become like you, then does that mean that you lost yourself by becoming who you are today?" Itachi had started when she had called him Itachi-san rather than Captain or Uchiha. She didn't know what had caused her to blurt out his name like that, but she had chosen to and the words had tumbled after it.

"Sakura-san," Itachi used the same suffix when answering her. "For anyone to do what I have, they would have only two choices. One would be to lose themselves without realizing it and the other would be to bury themselves deep within them. I chose the latter option because I knew what would come with being the clan prodigy. Sasuke wouldn't have realized it until it was too late. He'd be blinded by his faith in me and his desire to be everything that I am."

Sakura nodded and released his hand. He immediately began to descend from the tree. Sakura looked off into the distance for a moment before following him. When her feet touched the forest floor she looked up and saw that Itachi had his normal blank face. He hid any emotion he felt so carefully. Sakura could see glimpses of him when he let some emotion enter his face occasionally as he talked to the others. She wondered what it could be like to possibly be him. He buried his emotions inside of him as if they didn't exist. Sakura could never do that. She wore her emotions on her sleeve. Sure she wasn't blatantly displaying them anymore, but she knew that they were obvious when she was in Konoha and an opponent could figure them out if they gave her a careful glance.

"Sakura," a voice murmured in her ear as arms wrapped around her.

"Sasuke," she smiled.

"Was my brother annoying you while you took watch?"

"Yes," she turned in his arms to face him and rolled her eyes. "But you know me, I can handle him. I've always been able to deal with you and Shisui hasn't been a problem at all. You Uchihas are all too similar." She giggled.

"Hn," Sasuke simply grunted, but brought her closer to him and rested his head on top of hers.

"Sakura, can you help with breakfast?" Hinata's quiet voice asked.

"Of course, Hinata," Sakura smiled at her friend as she removed herself from Sasuke's embrace. It was then that she realized that she had two pairs of eyes on her. She looked behind her and saw Sasuke watching her thoughtfully and when she gave a quick glance around the camp she saw Itachi also watching her with a blank face. Sakura gave him a pointed glare before turning to help Hinata.

After breakfast, everyone packed up and removed the traces that they were there and they were off. Within an hour of leaving though, Sakura realized that she felt like she was being watched. She looked around. "Weasel," she spoke softly enough so that only Itachi would hear her. "Do you feel it?"

"Yes," he answered. "Give the order to halt, Tiger."

"Hai, hai," Sakura answered. She automatically went through a series of hand signs that would set a leaf into everyone's palms with the kanji for stop.

Within the next minute everybody was scattered on the ground. Sakura was pretty sure that Shisui and Shikamaru were the closest to her. For a baited minute they waited. Then a kunai came straight at Sakura. She swiftly threw a kunai out to meet it, knocking them out of her way. Within moments, it was a full-fledged battle.

Sakura turned to face another ANBU. She could tell that it was an enemy by the slightly different markings on the mask and the different tattoo. The ANBU attacked and within moments Sakura went from being on the defense to being on the offense. She had thrown her opponent for a loop when she opened up the ground beneath them and gave them a chakra-laced punch to the stomach. She wanted to capture him, but then she realized Shisui was struggling. Without hesitating, she slit the ANBU's throat and rushed to her teammate's aid. One well placed punch by Sakura was enough for Shisui to move into an offensive position and finish his opponent.

"Thanks," Shisui sighed in relief. The two looked around them. Itachi and Shikamaru each had an ANBU that was obviously in a captive position. The rest were dead. "So I guess we're doing an interrogation now."

"It looks like it. We should have done it with the jounin we fought. They would have been easier to interrogate," Sakura replied. Shisui nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm going to stay guard. You should join Weasel though. You're skills could be used," Shisui told her. Sakura entered the tiny area where Itachi and Shikamaru were conducting interrogations. It seemed as though it would be Sai, Sasuke, Itachi, Shikamaru, and herself in charge of this. Everyone else was probably disposing of the bodies or standing guard. Ino would take care of any injuries. There were sure to be more than a few. Sakura moved to stand next to her captain.

"We have some questions," Shikamaru started.

"You would do well to answer them," Itachi added.

"Why would we tell you anything?" One of the ANBU snorted. He was being held down by Sasuke. The other was being held down by Sai.

"You're facing some very dangerous people. I suggest you tell us," Sai told them in a voice laced with malice. "Your lives are at stake."

"You'll kill us anyway," the same ANBU replied.

"Now, what makes you think that?" Sasuke joined in. Sakura hated interrogations. On missions, she was often a part of them. Her knowledge of the human body was extensive and she was often used for torture techniques. She never liked to have any part in them no matter how often she participated in them. She mentally winced. This was certain to be a long interrogation.

After five hours of torture and whatnot, Itachi and Shikamaru hadn't been able to collect any information. It was time for Sakura to step in. Sighing, she rose from her spot behind Itachi and Shikamaru and walked towards the two captured ANBU. She started going through a series of quick hand signs and Sai and Sasuke stepped back right as she immobilized the area around the two captured ninjas. She was the only one who could move them now. She went through another few signs and released their mouths and only those. This jutsu took a lot of chakra so she would need to work quickly.

"Answer me," she demanded. "If you don't answer any of my questions you will regret it. Let's start with you." She pointed at the ANBU that Sai had previously held down. "Who are you working for?"

When the ANBU didn't reply after a long silence, Sakura walked to him and quickly pressed a few parts of his body and then made another set of hand signs. Blood suddenly spurt out of his mouth as he gasped in pain.

"Now answer me," Sakura demanded once more.

"Or…"

"Don't say anything!" His partner yelled.

Sakura sighed and turned to the ANBU that had previously been held by Sasuke. She did the exact same thing she had done to his partner except with a little more intensity. The result was a scream of pain. Sakura shuddered inwardly. She hated the screams. She hated interrogations. She was running out of chakra. She wanted to be finished.

"Orochimaru," he gasped after his scream. "Please, let us go."

Sakura turned away. She knew what was coming next. She released her jutsu and when she turned back around, the two ANBU were dead. They didn't realize that her jutsu also sucked out their chakra. To be safe that they were truly did, Sai and Sasuke slit their throats and then took their bodies away to dispose of them.

"Well done," Itachi spoke flatly.

Sakura simply removed her mask and looked over his injuries. She knew Ino would stop Sai and Sasuke to look over theirs as soon as they left the clearing. Sakura quickly healed the various slashes on Itachi and scowled. "Why are you so careless when you fight?"

"I wasn't careless. My opponent was their captain I believe. I was sure to get hurt," Itachi replied.

Sakura motioned for him to leave when she finished and Shikamaru stepped forward. "How do you like being under his command?"

Sakura gave a hoarse laugh. "It's not so different from working with Sasuke except that he's in charge. Now, you are always one of my favorite patients. You don't move."

"I'm watching the clouds," was Shikamaru's simple reply.

Sakura laughed and quickly finished with his injuries. "You can go," she told him.

"Sakura," Shikamaru looked at her with concern.

Sakura sighed. "Don't worry; I'll tend to my injuries."

"You won't be able to heal them. Your chakra is dangerously low. It always is after an interrogation. There must be a different way you can approach them." He looked at her with concern.

"I would probably have to end up using that technique in the end so there's no point in going through other techniques first."

"Forehead let me heal you!" Ino's load voice rang through the small area.

"Ino, have you…"

"I took care of my injuries already," Ino dismissed Sakura's worries. Sakura looked at Ino and could see that she was telling the truth.

"Do you have enough…?"

"Yes, my chakra is still at a stable level. Besides, it's about time you let me heal you," Ino smiled at Sakura. Sakura allowed Ino to heal her and as she did they chatted.

"Sakura, are you okay?" Naruto ran into the area.

"She's fine," Ino rolled her eyes. "She's low on chakra so I'm healing her."

Naruto sat down beside them and joined their conversation. Sakura smiled at them. She could feel something wrong though. All of a sudden, Ino gasped. "Sakura, where are your antidotes? Sakura, Sakura…." It was then that Sakura blacked out.


End file.
